


Grimlock Am Responsible Pet Owner

by Not_You



Series: Domesticus Inspired [1]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mention of abuse, Other, Pets, Robot Feels, Slavery, mention of underage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 21:30:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on Domesticus, completely and utterly unauthorized.  Very, very good series, also very dark and fucked up.  HEED THE WARNINGS, FOR THE LOVE OF ERZULIE.</p><p>http://archiveofourown.org/series/26502  </p><p>This fic is pretty safe, though, because Grimlock isn't into xenophilia and takes excellent care of his beloved pet humans.  Any and all failures in Transformers lore are mine alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grimlock Am Responsible Pet Owner

Even Dinobots can appreciate the benefits of owning humans, and this one has brought five (five!) of his own into the shop. Even with humans at home, most mechs don't own the full array of equipment an actual detailing shop has to offer, so bringing in a human or two isn't unheard of, but this many is enough to turn heads. Naturally, Grimlock doesn't seem to notice. He just trundles his way to a reserved berth in his tyrannosaurus form, a clear cube in his claws. Four are in the cube, three of the usual kind and a fourth that seems strangely soft and has longer fur. The fifth is actually riding on its owner's neck. It's _tiny_ , and looks around with proportionately enormous optics.

"Five humans! Then again, I guess Dinobots don't spend money on much else."

"What does he need so many for?"

"Have you ever seen anything like the one with the long fur?"

The proprietor vents a sigh of exasperation. "He started out with two for detailing work, picked a third on a whim, and then somehow acquired a female." He doesn't want to go on, knowing it will only mean more questions about Grimlock's pets.

\---

Kyle giggles and bounces up on and down on his feet, watching Grimlock get into the berth. "Ready?" Moira asks.

"Me, Grimlock, ready!"

Moira laughs, and clambers up to work on his head, because her hands are the smallest besides her son's, and Kyle only helps sometimes, like when there was a piece of grit wedged in exactly the wrong way for any of them to reach it. He's only a child, after all.

"Jeez, boss, what'd you do to yourself this time?" Terry chips at some hardened slag.

"Grimlock win fight! Grimlock mighty!"

Terry laughs. "Grimlock smash?"

"Grimlock smash!" It's an old joke, but Kyle still giggles. Terry tells him stories about characters from Earth, a place Moira has heard of but never seen. The Incredible Hulk is apparently an organic who can transform, turning into a huge, green version of himself every time he gets too angry. He and Grimlock share more than a few similarities, including speech patterns.

"Looks like Grimlock almost smash himself," Robert murmurs, gently buffing a plate around one of many little cracks that are still knitting together.

"Grimlock win."

"Like usual." Nick is carefully examining one hand. "Somebody toss me some solvent?" Terry throws him one of the little dispenser ampules of the stuff, and blows him a kiss afterward. Nick grins. "Thanks, baby."

"Ooooooooohhh!" Kyle calls, on that obnoxious rising note that must be at least partially instinctual.

\---

"They bred? Primus!"

"Grimlock shelled out for the best xenobiologist in the city to get the female through it."

"Their reproductive functions are traumatic?"

"Apparently the females are a marvel of natural engineering for being able to manage unassisted approximately eighty-five percent of the time."

"How can it be so dangerous?"

"The opposing structural stresses of walking upright and the hatchlings having large heads, is what I've heard." He shrugs.

"Why don't they just build a hatch?"

"There's a procedure called a kaezarian section or something that purpose-builds a hatch, but that has its hazards too. Organics are slagging _fragile_."

\---

Moira meets her mate on Grimlock's shoulder. He says the right word is 'husband', but the sound isn't pleasing, and its dual application to livestock and crop management render it suspect. Still, she wears the little, rough band of gold when they're not working and he does the same. It seems to please him. He smiles and pulls her close, kissing her. Kyle oohs again, and she rolls her eyes.

"Silly hatchling, be quiet!"

Grimlock chuckles, and puts one big hand down beside Kyle, palm up and clawed fingers curled and blunted enough for Kyle to climb around on them, which he does. She smiles, remembering how happy the others had been when Grimlock had given them their first climbing toys. She had had no idea how much climbing was a part of her programming, and how much she would enjoy getting to a higher vantage under her own power. She likes climbing Grimlock, but that's a bit different. "Do we need the high-speed buffer?"

"Not on his head, but—"

"Grimlock itch. Grimlock itch lots."

"Yeah, right here in the neck seam, I see it. Nick?"

Nick is the only one strong enough to carry the thing without straining himself. He makes the hand gesture they call a salute, and slides down Grimlock's arm, stopping at the wrist to ruffle Kyle's hair and make him giggle before heading for the buffer and dragging it back up. Nick was a varsity linebacker once upon a time, which means that he was very good at a game in which large men slam into each other at high speeds. Now he lugs the buffer all the way to Grimlock's neck, and pauses to catch his breath, waiting for Terry and Robert to join him. Moira picks up Terry's prybar and clambers down to work on Grimlock's thigh plates while the boys put in earplugs and heft the buffer. Kyle and Moira cover their ears. Terry compares it to something called a jackhammer, but all Moira knows is that it makes her bones rattle.

\---

"Really? He's never done it?"

"Do you really think Grimlock has the spare processing power to go in for anything so exotic? And he does need a lot of maintenance."

"I suppose… A captive-bred hatchling, Primus! Does he have any idea what it's worth?"

"I explained that to him. He just said, 'Me, Grimlock, never sell!' You can beat your faceplates into a wall if you want, I've got better things to do." Everyone groans, all too familiar with Grimlock's speech patterns and his stubbornness as well.

"Oh, anyone can be reasoned with—"

"You can't reason with Grimlock! He doesn't feel pity! Or remorse! Or fear! He stole one of them, you know. Or coerced its owner into giving it up, same thing. You should've seen the dentae marks!"

Everyone shudders, pondering the horror of being on the wrong side of Grimlock.

\--- 

"Me, Grimlock, feel better!"

Terry wipes his brow with one wiry forearm. "I'll bet. Had to feel a like a whole fucking row of ingrown hairs."

"Or a bad rash, maybe." Nick stretches his back as Robert crouches, catching his breath.

"Either way, time for the fine work. Hey, Kyle!" Terry calls, "You wanna help?"

"Yeah!" Kyle chirps, and climbs up Grimlock's arm. He's graceful and quick, and soon all of them are working on separate tasks again, except for Kyle and Terry, who share the deep cleaning work as Grimlock purrs.

"Grimlock like humans whole lot."

Moira smiles. "Humans like Grimlock, too."

Kyle giggles, expertly scrubbing out the seam, making Grimlock vent a sigh of relief. Terry grins at him and presents his hand for the high-five thing they do. Kyle crows and slaps his palm, scampering off to play on the materials bench again. He's being a good boy and staying away from everything hazardous, and Robert grins at her, knowing they're both thinking the same thing.

\--- 

"He does loan two of them out, but don't even _ask_ about the hatchling. Apparently interfacing damages their software if done too early, and Grimlock loves those weird little things."

As if summoned, Grimlock comes out again, in standard frame mode this time, the hatchling in the cube along with the others. Its tiny hands are splayed on the wall, and its optics are wide. Grimlock nods to them, and makes his way out, the rest of the little organics sitting calmly on the floor of their cage

"Grimlock, I just have to ask-- Which are the ones you loan out?"

"Grimlock not have time now."

"I'm just curious, Grimlock."

"Heavyarms and Spring," Grimlock says, because the human's sounds for themselves are meaningless, 'Nick' and 'Terry', little noises with no subtext. He points to the largest one, and it pulls its limbs in like a bashful mechkin. Spring, the second available organic, puts its hands to the wall like the hatchling did earlier, greenish optics bright and curious.

"They're pretty, in their strange way."

Grimlock shrugs. "Grimlock like humans."

\--- 

Kyle is always curious about the wider world, but also glad to get home. They have a terrarium of their own, where they don't need their nose pieces and where there's grass to walk on and trees to climb. Grimlock puts the cube against the transparent wall, and makes both open, letting them walk out and onto the grass. They wave to him as the wall goes up again. He puts his hand to the wall for a moment, and then goes off to recharge. Moira yawns and wanders over to the berry plants, still taken by the novelty of consuming non-block food.

"You guys are such perverts," Robert teases, and Terry just laughs. Nick blushes bright red and squirms.

"Hey, a man likes what he likes." Terry leers and wraps his arms around Nick's waist, nuzzling his shoulder blade.

"You guys are groooooosss," Kyle sing-songs, and runs to one of the easier climbing trees, swinging up into the branches.

"Gross and happy, kiddo!" Terry sticks out his tongue and vents, making that distinctive, mocking sound. "Come on, baby, let's take the edge off." He takes Nick's hand and leads him off to their little shared shelter on their side of the terrarium.

"Those guys." Moira sighs, and Robert laughs, going to get their rings.


End file.
